BERLIN (Reuters) – The morale of German entrepreneurs deteriorated in December against all expectations, shows a survey by the Ifo institute published on Monday.
The business climate index stood at 86.4 after 87.2 in November (revised).
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a reading of 87.8.
The component of the judgment of business leaders on their current conditions of activity came to 88.5 after 89.4 last month and that measuring the evolution of their expectations at 84.3 after 85.1 (revised) in november. The Reuters consensus was 89.7 and 85.9, respectively.
“As the year draws to a close, the German economy remains weak,” said Clemens Fuest, president of Ifo.
The German economy has a demand problem, added Klaus Wohlrabe, head of surveys at Ifo, noting that data points to a slight contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter.
Germany’s GDP already contracted in the third quarter. Two consecutive quarters of decline are considered a technical recession.
(Reporting Maria Martinez, written by Miranda Murray, French version Claude Chendjou, editing by Kate Entringer)
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